The scripture points out that Hagar was an Egyptian who, at the start of this passage, was living in the household of Abraham. She was a servant - or a slave - but as an immigrant from Egypt, perhaps that’s the best she could hope for.
And I’d like to think that she was treated well by Abraham, that she really was made to feel that the household of Abraham was her home, a place where she belonged, a place where she felt welcome. And yet, by the end of the passage, we see that any welcome offered to her was conditional, and could be revoked at any time.
Which it was.
Hagar had done nothing wrong. She had only done what was commanded of her by Sarah and Abraham. But even that was not good enough. Sarah’s jealousy and prejudice against Hagar led Abraham to send Hagar away.
The message to Hagar was clear: this is no longer your home. This is no longer your family.
It makes me think about the people in our own community who are homeless. There’s more of them now. Homelessness is up by 13 percent in Los Angeles County over the past year.
That means there’s 66,000 people who are now homeless in L.A. County - 8,000 more people than last year.
I think about the people who just couldn’t afford to keep up with their rent or their mortgage. Maybe they got sick. Maybe they got laid off. Maybe their landlord raised the rent, or evicted them just so improvements could be made, to justify an unaffordable rent increase.
There’s been a lot of that happening in recent years.
I think about people who have been kicked out of their homes, like Hagar and Ishmael. People who have been kicked out of their homes for any number of reasons, but for too many, it’s because they came out, or it was somehow revealed to their parents, that they were gay or lesbian or transgender. A large percentage of homeless people are LGBTQ teens and young adults whose families no longer want anything to do with them.
And I think about people for whom home is not a safe place. At home, they lack the emotional support they need. At home, they are abused. At home, they don’t feel safe, but there is nowhere else for them to go.
And I think that, maybe, for them, the story of Hagar has something important to say, since Hagar lived in a home where she was tormented and abused, and eventually kicked out of.
My thoughts on home are inspired by this scripture, but also by the fact that today is Father’s Day. Father’s Day makes me think of the home I have created over the years with Ginger, my wife of 26 years. For most of those years, we’ve been raising our two sons, Ethan and Tristan; but there have been others. At least seven other boys come to mind right now, who in a very real way considered our home their home, at least for a while. Of those, four have actually lived with us, and we were their legal guardians, for periods ranging from four months to two years.
And I think back, and wonder: what was it that made our home feel like home to them? Let me tell you: our home can be a chaotic place… and when you actually enter into someone’s home like that - not as a guest, but as a member of the household - you experience all the hassles and frustrations. All the imperfections and flaws are on display.
In our Bible story, we get to see some of the imperfections and flaws of Abraham’s large household.
Abraham himself was less than perfect, and I’m not sure if I should take comfort in that, but I do. There are things I know I could have done better, and I have a feeling that Abraham had similar regrets.
But I am thankful that, for whatever reason, Ginger and I have been able to provide a home not only for our two boys, but also for these others who needed a place they could call home. It wasn’t something we chose; it hasn’t always been easy; it hasn’t always been perfect; but it’s been a great blessing to me, and I hope to everyone else as well.
Think about your own experience of home. I know just a little bit about the experience some of you have had, and even less about the experience others of you have had, but you know your experiences. Think back on those for a moment. What was “home” like for you? Where have you found “home?” I do hope you have been part of at least one place, one home, that was a place of welcoming love and nonjudgmental acceptance.
That’s how Brennan Manning defines “home,” in a book I just finished reading. Home, he says, is a place of welcoming love and nonjudgmental acceptance.
But even if you’ve never, ever, had a home like that in your life, you do have a home like that in God. You have a home in God. You have a home in Jesus.
Now, I cringe a little in saying that, because I know how it sounds: cheesy and cliched. And trust me, I hate religious talk that is cheesy or cliched - so I ask you to bear with me a little longer. Let me explain what I mean.
God is your home. This is not just a Christian idea. The Buddhist Teacher Thich Naht Hanh says that our breath is our home, but we know that breath and the Spirit are the same, biblically speaking.
Take a breath right now. Feel the Spirit entering into your body, entering into your life. You are making a home for God, and at the same time you are learning that there is a home for you in God.
God is your home. Every breath you take bears witness to this truth.
And there is always a welcome for you, no matter how much you’ve messed up. No matter how many homes you’ve been rejected from. No matter how many tables you’ve been denied a place at.
There is always room for you at God’s table. There is always a place set just for you, waiting for you to come in, take your seat, and feast on the goodness.
In my reading this week I came upon a passage about Zacchaeus. Zacchaeus was a tax collector, which means he worked with Rome to exploit his own people. For that, he was excommunicated. His own people were forbidden from associating with him. He was not welcome in the temple - God's home. He was not welcome in the home of any of his neighbors. And none of his neighbors would step foot inside his home.
Which makes it that much more amazing that Jesus - when he saw him - said to him: "Zacchaeus! I'm coming to have supper at your home." Jesus was coming to make his home with Zacchaeus. He was saying to Zacchaeus: "your home will be my home. Your home is my home. I will be there.”
And Zacchaeus was so overcome, so blown away by Jesus' willingness to embrace Zacchaeus despite everything - and so overcome by Jesus's welcoming love and nonjudgmental acceptance, and so overcome by Jesus’s willingness to be at home with Zacchaeus - that he committed to completely changing his life, to live with love for others, and to no longer exploit his neighbors for his own gain.
The welcoming love and nonjudgmental acceptance of God that makes us feel at home - it is a powerful thing, and when we truly know that acceptance and love, and allow it into our lives - it changes us in unimaginable ways.
Out in the desert, Hagar was ready to give up. She had no home in Egypt, and now, she had no home in the household of Abraham and Sarah.
But God came to her, and let her know that she had a home with God. God provided her welcoming love and nonjudgmental acceptance, just as God provides to every person. God, in a sense, welcomed her to his table, just as God welcomes every person to the table. God provided for her, cared for her, and cared for her son Ishmael, who grew up strong, and did, in fact, become the leader of a great nation, just as God promised.
It may be that you are at a point in life like Hagar was, ready to give up. You’re searching for home, you’re searching for God, you’re searching for welcoming love and nonjudgmental acceptance; and your heart is restless because of it.
A 5th century bishop of north Africa, and one of the greatest influences on Christian theology - Augustine of Hippo - said: “Our heart is restless, O God, until it finds its rest in you.”
Our heart is restless, O God, until it finds its rest in you. Until it finds its home in you.
So we search, and we search, for God, for a place to call home… but like Dorothy in the land of Oz, you don’t realize that what you’ve been searching for has been with you all the time.
God is your true home. When your heart finds its rest in God, you feel at home. Welcomed. Accepted. Loved. Completely.
And if that doesn't sound like what you’ve been told about God, then you've been lied to. Because God is love. God is home.
One last thing: Scripture takes the idea of the household, and expands it to include all of humanity. We are all one family, and earth is our home.
And like Abraham, we have not managed things perfectly. Like Abraham, we have made some serious mistakes, and made known our many flaws and failures. Racism. Poverty. I’ve talked a lot about such things in recent weeks.
Yet God’s love still flows. And God always provides us the opportunity to make things right. To confront and overcome our racism. To eliminate poverty.
And to make this a home that reflects God’s love - a place of welcoming love and nonjudgmental acceptance for all people.
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